Hundreds of employees from South Korean companies will depart for Vietnam this week on a special entry program amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Tuesday that a 340-member delegation, consisting of workers from 143 local conglomerates and small- and mid-sized enterprises, will board a chartered plane bound for Vietnam on Wednesday. 

These workers, deemed essential for bilateral business exchanges between Seoul and Hanoi, including plant construction projects in the Southeast Asian country, will be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival before they take up their assigned tasks from May 13. 

The ministry said the government negotiated the special entry on behalf of the Korean firms, as it would not have been easy for them to do so individually.

As part of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Vietnam stopped issuing visas for foreign visitors on March 18 and enforced a related entry ban on foreigners four days later.